- Helen Boaden
- 22 Nov 06, 02:10 PM
Not for the first time in human history, an internal e-mail has come to light which seems to put 大象传媒 News in a bad light. It鈥檚 grabbed headlines and stirred up modest controversy .
The facts are simple: the e-mail was sent by a manager to the newsgatherers in our Westminster office exhorting them to focus hard on a major issue of public interest 鈥 the so-called Cash for Peerages Inquiry. After encouraging them to work their contacts and dig deeply into the story to ensure 大象传媒 News 鈥 and our audiences 鈥 got wind of any new development first, the e-mail went on to offer 拢100 to anyone who could get us a genuine scoop.
It was a wry one liner and a complete 鈥渙ne off鈥 at the end of the e-mail, mischievously playing on the idea of cash incentives 鈥 the issue at the heart of the current controversy on party political funding.
Was it a good idea to encourage our reporters to go the extra mile to be first with a story? Absolutely yes. Was it a good idea to offer a cash bonus? No. As soon as senior managers like myself became aware of the e-mail yesterday we made it clear that it was wholly inappropriate. No bonus has been paid in relation to this story and no bonus will be paid in future.
We are fully committed to providing impartial, fair and balanced reporting at all times. We know the public trusts us to deliver impartial and accurate coverage and we take that trust very seriously.
The context of the one liner offer was the normal journalistic desire to obtain and broadcast news first. That鈥檚 what our audiences expect of us, particularly on News 24, Radio 5 Live and the 大象传媒 News website, and that is what we will always strive to provide.
Helen Boaden is director, 大象传媒 News
- Husain Husaini
- 22 Nov 06, 12:06 PM
At the Asian Network we often hear of the dilemmas that come from growing up in a country where sex outside marriage is widely accepted while living in a culture where it isn't. Young British Asians are often in sexual relationships but their parents disapprove.
At its worst we see it in what are often called 'honour killings' - young women murdered because of disapproval of their sex lives. These of course are very very rare. But this week in the Asian Network Report (which you can listen to by clicking here) we had an insight into some more common problems faced by our audience. We were told by the Brook Advisory Clinic in Birmingham that proportionately more young Asians than non Asians are coming to them after having unprotected sex, and that proportionately more young Asian women are referred for abortions.
Why? Well at least in some cases it seems that young British Asians want the sex but don't want to have contraceptives at home in case their parents find them. We looked at this problem through the eyes of people in Birmingham and Glasgow. Some of it sounds almost romantic. A young woman told us about leaving pillows under her duvet to fool her parents as she shinned down a drainpipe to go out with her mates. Some of it was tragic. We heard the painful tale of a woman who had contracted genital herpes after unprotected sex. She now feels she can never have the arranged marriage she wanted. How would she explain her illness to any potential husband?
But what are we to learn from this. Does it show that conservative parents are right? No sex is the only safe sex? Or does it show that Asian mums and dads need to teach their children about condoms and STIs? Well, we asked in our phone in programme with Anita Rani if we needed to talk more with our parents about sex. NO came the resounding response. The last thing either side of this generational divide wanted to do was to discuss the issue...
Husain Husaini is head of news at the Asian Network
FT, Sun, Telegraph, Guardian: Labour criticises the 大象传媒 for internal e-mail which offered journalists a 拢100 bonus for breaking stories on the "cash for peerages" investigation. [The 大象传媒 said the offer, which had been a one-off, had been inappropriate and had been withdrawn, and that staff would continue to cover the story impartially.] ( (subscription), , , .)
International Herald Tribune: 大象传媒 Urdu service journalist who had been kidnapped in Pakistan released safely. ()
